Tuesday, January 21, 2014

2 LIVE SETS FROM FRANK MCCOMB; NEW CONTEMPORARY SMOOTH JAZZ FROM LEVEL 10

FRANK MCCOMB - LIVE AT THE BITTER END: REMEMBERING DONNY HATHAWAY

There's nobody better we can think of to pay tribute to Donny Hathaway than Frank McComb – given that both Frank's wonderful vocals and keyboard work draw a lot from Donny's originals of the 70s, but have always taken his inspiration in really rich new directions on McComb's recent albums! Yet here, Frank really gets back to basics – and plays live at The Bitter End, in a warmly intimate style that's reminiscent of the classic Donnie Hathaway Live album of the 70s – although even more personal, given that the set only features Frank solo, on both acoustic and electric piano – but with a fullness that's amazing, and which really makes us keep imagining a bigger band behind him. McComb performs great versions of "Someday We'll All Be Free", "Love Love Love", "Flying Easy", "A Song For All", and "You Were Meant For Me" – plus his own "We'll Carry Your Name On", a tribute to Donny. The CD also closes with a version of "Little Ghetto Boy" played with backing from a bigger group, too. ~ Dusty Groove.

FRANK MCCOMB - LIVE IN JOHANNESBURG 

Wonderful work from one of the greatest living soul singers we can think of – the vastly under-recognized Frank McComb – an artist we'd rank right up there with our favorite talents from the 70s! Frank's amazing in this live setting – working with heavy Fender Rhodes alongside his vocals, in a warm and jazzy blend that's somewhere between Donny Hathaway and Webster Lewis – really stretched out on these long tracks that are even more expressive and evocative than Frank's work in the studio! No surprise, McComb serves up a remake of Hathaway's "The Ghetto" with a new Soweto twist – and other tracks include "Another Day", "Left Alone", "Contact", and "Do You Remember Love". CD also fetures two bonus tracks – "The Way I Feel" and "I Can Feel The Spirit". ~ Dusty Groove.

LEVEL 10 - VECTOR

Suddenly, Latin Jazz seems reawakened with an uplifting positive message, Level 10 bridges the past elements of Jazz with new sounds that are bubbling up to the surface of the entertainment scene. Smooth Jazz has started to take a turn with the introduction of new musical flavors that embrace purely positive uplifting sound. Often criticized as palatable groove-based music smooth jazz is evolving into a new category yet to be defined. Levy DeAndrade, composer and founder of Level 10, stated, “We have a new generation of fans looking for a sound that we have been creating for years that is much more than an electronic gimmickry.” Level 10’s “Vector” arrives as one of the jazz albums of the year displaying stellar technique and refreshing original compositions that brush aside any notion of jazz being in a rut. Brazilian and Cuban beats married with a funky attitude and an intense lyrical sense of purpose that hearken back to some of the early Spyro Gyra records.What makes Level 10’s work different aside from the obvious prolific instrumental talent of this global jazz collective is that no one is attacking this niche in the market with the same type of confidence that Level 10 brings to the table. “While some artists attempt to refer to their own Latin vibe while simply adding nothing more than a cowbell to their more than predictable arsenal, Level 10 lays down layers of flavor and musical colors one can hear.” said Jazz critic Brent Black. ~ http://level10band.com/


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